Adam Ingram: In my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence's written statement of 24 November, Official Report, column 130-133WS he informed the House of work which, as part of Future Infantry Structure (FIS), would examine the supporting infrastructure of Infantry Regimental Headquarters (RHQs) to ensure that they can effectively support the infantry in the future. This work has now concluded and the new arrangements are set out in the tables below.
	The assistant chief of the general staff has concluded a review of RHQs and I have endorsed the finding that a single RHQ will be established for each infantry regiment, supported as necessary by a network of outstations to maintain the traditional regimental footprint. This format closely mirrors that already adopted by a number of existing multi-battalion regiments, such as The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and The Royal Anglian Regiment. In line with the overall reduction in regiments post-FIS implementation, in the region on 15 RHQs of antecedent regiments will reorganise to become outstations or home headquarters of the new regiments created in FIS. One antecedent RHQ and four outstations will close between now and 2011. One new RHQ, for the Royal Regiment of Scotland, will be created. The Colonel Commandants of regiments have endorsed the principles for restructuring, the details of which have been subject to wide ranging consultation. The resultant organisation is considered to be the most efficient method of delivering the functions of our RHQs in order to support the future infantry structure. They will continue to give maximum support to our soldiers while making the most effective use of taxpayers' money.
	The RHQs will also continue to fulfil their remit of supporting former members of the Infantry, and it is also important not to lose sight of the role they play in preserving the illustrious history and traditions of their antecedent regiments. No regimental museums will close as a result of this review.
	Subject to trade union consultation, the new RHQ structure will lead in time to a small reduction in the overall number of staff required and it is hoped that this can be achieved through natural wastage and relocation, although a very small number of redundancies may be necessary.
	
		
			 summary of infantry rhqs(1)and associated outstations 
			 foot guards 
			 Regiment Location New Designation Remarks 
			 Grenadier Guards London(2) No change  
			 Coldstream Guards London No change  
			 Scots Guards London No change  
			 Scots Guards Edinburgh No change Outstation 
			 Irish Guards London No change  
			 Welsh Guards London No change  
			 Welsh Guards Cardiff No change Outstation 
		
	
	
		
			 the royal regiment of scotland 
			 Old RHQ Location New Designation Remarks 
			  Edinburgh Main RHQThe Royal Regiment of Scotland Edinburgh Castle. Regiment newly formed under FIS 
			 The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) Edinburgh Home HQThe Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)  
			 The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) Glasgow Home HQThe Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment)  
			 The King's Own Scottish Borderers Berwick Upon Tweed Home HQThe King's Own Scottish Borderers  
			 The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) Perth Home HQThe Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)  
			 The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) Inverness Home HQThe Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons)  
			 The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) Aberdeen Outstation closes in 2011 Museum of the Gordon Highlanders remains 
			 The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) Stirling Home HQThe Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)  
		
	
	
		
			 queen's division 
			 Old RHQ Location New Designation Remarks 
			 The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) Canterbury Main RHQ The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)  
			 The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers London (Tower of London) Main RHQ The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers  
			 The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers London Outstation in Tower of LondonMerges into the Main RHQ  
			 The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Newcastle The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Newcastle Outstation.  
			 The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Warwick The Royal Regiment of FusiliersWarwick Outstation.  
			 The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Bury The Royal Regiment of FusiliersBury Outstation.  
			 The Royal Anglian Regiment BurySt Edmunds No Change. Remains Main RHQ The Royal Anglian Regiment  
			 The Royal Anglian Regiment Norwich Outstation closes 2008  
			 The Royal Anglian Regiment Warley The Royal Anglian RegimentWarley Outstation.  
			 The Royal Anglian Regiment Northampton The Royal Anglian Regiment Northampton Outstation.  
			 The Royal Anglian Regiment Lincoln Closed  
		
	
	
		
			 king's division 
			 Old RHQ Location New Designation Remarks 
			 The King's Own Royal Border Regiment Carlisle The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)Carlisle Outstation  
			 The King's Regiment Liverpool The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) Liverpool Outstation  
			 The King's Regiment Manchester The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) Manchester Outstation  
			 The Queen's Lancashire Regiment Preston Main RHQThe Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)  
			 The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire York Main RHQThe Yorkshire Regiment (14(th)/15(th),19(th )and 33(rd)/76(th) Foot)  
			 The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) Richmond The Yorkshire Regiment (14(th)/15(th),19(th )and 33(rd)/76(th) Foot)Richmond Outstation.  
			 The Duke Of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) Halifax The Yorkshire Regiment (14(th)/15(th),19(th )and 33(rd)/76(th) Foot)Halifax Outstation  
		
	
	
		
			 prince of wales's division 
			 Old RHQ Location New Designation Remarks 
			 The Cheshire Regiment Chester The Mercian RegimentChester Outstation  
			 The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (26(th)/45(th) Foot) Worcester Closes in 2010  
			 The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (26(th)/45(th) Foot) Nottingham The Mercian RegimentNottingham Outstation  
			 The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's) Lichfield Main RHQThe Mercian Regiment  
			 The Royal Welch Fusiliers Wrexham The Royal Welsh Wrexham Outstation  
			 The Royal Regiment of Wales Cardiff Main RHQThe Royal Welsh  
		
	
	
		
			 the rifles 
			 Old RHQ Location New Designation Remarks 
			 The Light Infantry Winchester Main RHQ The Rifles The new Regiment's RHQ forms in Winchester 
			 The Royal Green Jackets Winchester   
			 The Light Infantry Bodmin The RiflesBodmin Outstation. Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 The Light Infantry Taunton The RiflesTaunton Outstation. Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 The Light Infantry Durham The RiflesDurham Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 The Light Infantry Pontefract The RiflesPontefract Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 The Light Infantry Shrewsbury The RiflesShrewsbury Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 The Royal Green Jackets Oxford The RiflesOxford Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry Exeter The RiflesExeter Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry Gloucester The RiflesGloucester Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			 The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry Salisbury The RiflesSalisbury Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
			  London The RiflesLondon Outstation Subject to Lt Div Council endorsement 
		
	
	
		
			 the parachute regiment 
			 Old RHQ Location New Designation Remarks 
			 RHQ The Parachute Regiment Colchester No change  
			 The Parachute Regiment Museum Aldershot Close under Allenby-Connaught (Museum to move to Duxford) Move in 2008 
		
	
	(1)Not included are HQ of the Brigade of Gurkhas or RHQ of The Royal Irish Regiment who remain unaffected by this review.
	(2 )All Foot Guards RHQs while separate, are located within Wellington Barracks, London.
	Northern Ireland (Future Garrison Structure)

Andy Burnham: The Health and Social Care Act 2001 introduced powers to enable NHS primary care trusts to assure patient and public safety by requiring primary care health professionals to be included on a list maintained by the primary care trust. These provisions also enable trusts to take appropriate action where necessary to protect the public because of a health professional's poor or inadequate performance.
	We have consulted professional and representative bodies on introducing these proposals for individual community pharmacists. Consultation on a draft regulatory impact assessment, available on the Department's website, took place last autumn.
	Since then, we launched in March a major consultation on reforming the regulation of the pharmacy profession as a whole and to strengthen the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's role in protecting patients and promoting high standards of clinical practice. This ends on 19 June.
	We shall also be considering the future requirements for the adequate regulation of health professionals as a whole and have received Andrew Foster's report on non-medical regulation.
	In view of these developments, we have decided to defer the introduction of NHS supplementary list provisions for community pharmacists, pending the outcome of the current consultation and consideration of future requirements for professional regulation as a whole. I will make a further announcement when we have completed this work.
	Patient Pathway

Tony McNulty: The Justice and Home Affairs Council was held on 27-28 April 2006 in Luxembourg.
	Unfortunately my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary was unable to attend. In his absence, my noble and learned friend, the Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, and my noble Friend Baroness Ashton attended the meeting. I thought it would be useful if I were to outline what was discussed and decided at the Council meeting and the next steps in light of this.
	The Council decided to increase Schengen visa fees from 2007, to meet the projected costs of issuing more secure, biometric visas in the future. Although the UK has not participated in this Schengen measure, the Government actively support co-operation at EU level to enhance the security and integrity of visas and travel documents.
	Commissioner Frattini gave the Council a brief update on the approach to be taken in a forthcoming Commission communication concerning the development of common visa application centres. The concept is being explored with a view to developing in the future, shared visa application facilities for member states in third countries, including the collection of biometric information The communication should be formally presented to the June JHA Council.
	The presidency's efforts to move the SIS II legal instruments dossier forward were welcomed by all member states. The three outstanding issues to be resolved were biometrics; harmonisation of the conditions for entering alerts; and the data protection oversight arrangements. The UK was largely supportive of the presidency's ambitions but needed to consider the proposed arrangements further at national level. Other member states were in a similar position so a new text of the document will be circulated and this work will be taken forward by the working group.
	The proposal for a Council decision on the improvement of police co-operation, especially at the internal borders was discussed. It became apparent that the decision as it currently stands was unlikely to reach agreement as there were too many outstanding issues to be resolved. However, no member state wanted to suspend negotiations entirely. The Austrian presidency will now discuss with the Finnish presidency how to proceed with and revise the text.
	The presidency updated the Council on the progress of discussions to date on the data protection framework decision. The three key issues so far related to: transmission of information to third countries; whether both police and judicial co-operation should be included in the scope of the instrument; and whether the instrument should be confined to cross-border transmission of information and further processing of that data, or whether it should also encompass data gathered and used in a purely domestic context. These would be discussed further at working group level and the presidency hoped to bring the key remaining political questions to the June JHA Council.
	In the main Council format, there were presentations and discussions on the issue of human trafficking. The need for member states to share more information with Europol was highlighted. There was also a presentation on the implementation of the EU external relations strategy. The presidency informed the Council it would bring forward an action-orientated paper on Afghan drugs to the June Council. It also outlined the plan for the Security Conference which was held in Vienna on 4-5 May. The Commission also reported on the progress of the Hampton Court Conference and the December Council. With a stronger emphasis on engaging with Africa and the Mediterranean region, positive results had been achieved. However, it was concluded that the Commission and member states need to do more to tackle the problems of illegal immigration.
	The Commission stated that there was already a high level of consensus in the Council on the countries to be included in the list of safe countries for the purposes of the Asylum Procedures Directive. An agreement for the procedure for adding and removing third countries was also needed. The Commission urged member states to press ahead with its implementation.
	Peter Sutherland, the United Nations Secretary-General's special representative, made a presentation to the Council on the UN high-level dialogue on "International Migration and Development". The UN will publish a paper in June setting out the proposals to take this debate forward in New York in September. He stressed the need for the EU to play an active role and take the initiative in this area.
	Political agreement was reached on the articles of the draft regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations ("Rome II"). The presidency tabled a final compromise package which was agreed by qualified majority. The UK along with other member states raised a number of outstanding concerns, including on limitation of the scope of the instrument; simplification of the special rule on product liability; and the operation of the general rule in article 3 in relation to Stock Exchange transactions. On the latter, UK expressed concerns, but there was no support from any other member state. After in-depth discussion the compromise was agreed.
	The presidency provided an update to the Council of other community draft instruments containing provisions related to judicial co-operation in civil matters, in particular the draft "Directive on Services", the draft "Consumer Credit Directive" and the Green Paper on "Damages Actions for Breach of the EC Antitrust Rules". As was agreed at the January JHA informal, the presidency would provide regular updates in this area.
	The Office of Publications made a presentation to the Council on N-Lex, a new electronic database containing the national legislation of member states and Eur-Lex, the database that gives access to EU legal instruments. N-Lex was formally declared open.
	The Council discussed two of the issues discussed on the Framework Decision for the European Evidence Warrant. The UK maintained its position that if there were to be definitions of those offences to which the principle of some of dual criminality would not apply, then they should be included in a non-binding Council statement, following the model of the European Arrest Warrant. The Commission outlined the case for applying the EEW to requests for retained telecommunications data. Most member states, however, thought it would be more appropriate to leave this until the second part of this initiative decision due in 2007. The presidency has referred both matters back to expert level, where other outstanding issues remain under discussion. This framework decision is likely to be on the June JHA Council agenda.
	A general approach was reached on the framework decision on the fight against organised crime subject to parliamentary scrutiny reserves, including a UK parliamentary scrutiny reserve. National Parliaments will therefore still have the opportunity to complete their scrutiny processes, although in this case the Government take the view that this measure, as now drafted, meets the concerns expressed by the UK Parliamentary Scrutiny Committees. In particular, as stated in the most recent letters from Paul Goggins, the current draft of the framework decision, includes language to allow member states to comply with the requirements to criminalise by way of their national laws of conspiracy.
	The presidency noted that an ad hoc group had been created to explore alternative approaches to the proposed framework decision on procedural rights. There was a general acknowledgement that all options should be investigated including the option of a non-binding political resolution and a package of practical measures to improve co-operation in the areas proposed to be covered by the framework decision. The UK stressed the need for a broad approach, not merely focusing on a framework decision.
	The Council debated the issue of whether the transfer of prisoners should be subject to a dual criminality requirement and agreed that a solution might be found using a presidency compromise proposal which would require the abolition of dual criminality for listed offences, but would provide an opt-out for those who wished to maintain dual criminality. This was supported by the UK. It was acknowledged by all that the key to solution would be the scope of the proposed opt-out. The Working Group will continue work on that basis.
	The Council reached a general approach on the substance of the EU agreement with Norway and Iceland on surrender procedures. The text for this measure has not as yet been deposited for scrutiny by this House because it is a classified document. Work will now focus on the accompanying annex which will be the form used to request surrender/extradition. The UK is satisfied with this and intends to operate a system as close to the European Arrest Warrant as possible.
	Anthony Rice